Searching for the right balance between the highs and lows of diabetes

What are your dreams for the future?

Earlier this week, I talked about how far closed loop technology has come in the past ten years or so. Today, I want to ask you: What’s next?

In other words, what do you think is next in diabetes care? What are you wishing was next? What do you want your world with diabetes to look like in five or ten years?

Maybe you just care about a cure and nothing else. That’s fair. Perhaps you’re interested in trying a patch pump, whenever it’s available in your country. Or maybe you want to learn more about that implantable CGM you’ve been seeing headlines about.

Would you like to see improvements in software to help you keep track of your diabetes hour by hour, day-to-day, week-to-week? Is there a nifty device you’d like to see developed?

My interests these days not only focus on diabetes, but on health care in general. I’m interested in what people living with conditions other than diabetes experience, and if there are any parallels to diabetes. I want to hear about their interactions with health care professionals, and whether there’s anything I can learn about that.

Of course, I’m interested in how we can improve access for new and existing patients, to help them get the best of what is already available. I will keep fighting for that as much as I can. Same goes for families and loved ones of those living with diabetes.

As far as everyday diabetes goes, two things:

First, I can’t wait until there’s a glucagon solution that doesn’t require a bunch of steps to go from unpackaging to injection. That’s exactly why there isn’t any glucagon in my house. The time has more than come for this. Here’s hoping it gets to approval and into our hands in the very near future.

Second, I think I’d like to see some improvements in insulin pump infusion sets. There really haven’t been changes in infusion sets in the almost ten years I’ve been pumping, and I think there’s an opportunity there for someone to make a difference. Ultimately, I’d like to see a less invasive (read: less scarring) set that could also last a little longer than today’s infusion sets do. I realize that’s a stretch… I’m just wondering if it’s possible, and if it is possible, how to get it from idea to approval.

I realize those are two non-pie-in-the-sky things, but I’d be happy if they happened anyway. And really, any improvement in diabetes drugs, technology, devices, therapy, and access are huge wins for our already too large community.

Now, let me bring it back to you again. What are your dreams, wants, needs, and desires for the future?

I see Medtronic is working on a seven day infusion set. If that happens you will get one of two things fairly soon. The improved glucagon seems pretty close. SO I think you might be 2 for 2 in fairly short order, say 12 – 16 months.

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